[Harc] HARC Meeting Quorum

Thu Dec 7 16:22:56 CST 2023

The “constitution” on the ARRL site is equivalent to our “Articles of Incorporation.”  

>From that site:  “What’s the difference between a constitution and by-laws? A constitution provides the framework to govern the club or empowers the club administrators to do certain things on behalf of the club. The by-laws detail specific actions as guided by the constitution. As an example your constitution may authorize the club to collect dues from its members whereas the by-laws will specify the amount of the dues to be collected and when they will be paid.”

It’s supposed to be easier to amend the Bylaws than the Articles of Incorporation.

73
Peter

Michael-Peter Esko
W6IES

From: Friday Ululani via Harc
Sent: Thursday, December 7, 2023 1:47 PM
To: harc at reflector.humboldt-arc.org
Subject: Re: [Harc] HARC Meeting Quorum

Maybe ARRL has some sample bylaws for clubs like ours?  Here is what I found in just a minute:
https://www.arrl.org/files/file/Clubs/Club%20Constitution.pdf
Once we have bylaws we think are ok, could we send them via email to members, to vote on?
On 12/7/2023 10:49 AM, Richard Kern kn6rk via Harc wrote:
I also read through them.

We have mis-referenced sections, a double section (3.08), a requirement that the club keep certain records at the "principal office of the corporation" (where such location is I do not know) and the requirement that the "membership committee" approval new applicants for membership.  The election of the board should happen at the "annual meeting" which is not defined, and there is some argument that any election should be done with paper ballots, with  a section describing who and how they will be counted.

Do we need a committee to update this document?  We need to at least fix some of the errors in it, and likely make other major changes.

KN6RK
Richard
Maybe Next treasurer, (if we can figure out election procedure)

On Thu, 7 Dec 2023 15:27:40 +0000 (UTC), Cliff VanCott via Harc <harc at reflector.humboldt-arc.org> wrote:

I agree with the idea of us taking a new look at the by-laws.  I tried to decipher them during the last meeting and found them to be a bit overly complicated and unclear during that rushed attempt to find the answers needed in a short time.  

I think that reviewing the by-laws, even if we make no changes, would both raise awareness of their content for all of us; and, if needed, provide us the means by which we can modify/update them to meet our organization's current needs.

... just my two-cents worth as the voice on the zoom call saying... "Hold on, I'm trying to find it in these 15 pages of stuff!"  Cliff

On Wednesday, December 6, 2023 at 03:53:15 PM PST, David Boyd via Harc <harc at reflector.humboldt-arc.org> wrote:

Dear HARC,

At last evening's December Business Meeting, where we attempted to elect
new HARC officers, there was some concern that because only one Board
member was in attendance we did not have a quorum and could not do an
official vote.  Unfortunately we did not have HARC By-Laws handy to
check.  I have since got a hold of a copy (thanks Cliff), and my review
of them shows some good news, and some bad news.

First the Good News.  There are two general types of meetings:
Membership Business Meetings; and Board Meetings.  While the Board
meetings do require a least half of the Board be present for a quorum,
this is not the case for Membership Meetings.  So the absence of most of
the Board last evening was not a problem regarding having a quorum.

Now the Bad News:  For a Membership Meeting to have a quorum, at least
half of the eligible voting members (i.e. those current with their dues)
need to be present.  This was certainly not the case last evening, and
probably has not been so for most of the meetings we have held.  If my
understanding is correct, most of the decisions we have made at meetings
in recent years have not been in accord with our By-Laws.

I think we should amend our By-Laws to make it easier to have a quorum
for our Membership Meetings.  Frankly, I think the By-Laws overall are
much more complicated than they need to be, and could benefit from an
update.  What are your thoughts?

73
David KN6CEH

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